Product Description

The Best Fully Integrated Study System Available--Written by the Lead Developers of Exam 310-065

With hundreds of practice questions and hands-on exercises, SCJP Sun Certified Programmer for Java 6 Study Guide covers what you need to know--and shows you how to prepare--for this challenging exam.

• 100% complete coverage of all official objectives for exam 310-065
• Exam Objective Highlights in every chapter point out certification objectives to ensure you're focused on passing the exam
• Exam Watch sections in every chapter highlight key exam topics covered
• Simulated exam questions match the format, tone, topics, and difficulty of the real exam

Covers all SCJP exam topics, including:

Declarations and Access Control · Object Orientation · Assignments · Operators · Flow Control, Exceptions, and Assertions · Strings, I/O, Formatting, and Parsing · Generics and Collections · Inner Classes · Threads · Development

CD-ROM includes:

• Complete MasterExam practice testing engine, featuring: Two full practice exams; Detailed answers with explanations; Score Report performance assessment tool
• Electronic book for studying on the go
• Bonus coverage of the SCJD exam included!

Bonus downloadable MasterExam practice test with free online registration.

Customer Reviews (70)

Excellent Book
if you want to pass the certificationjava 6 exam, this is it the better way, just try it.

This is the One Stop Shop book..No Look further
Even though some of the the topics are tough and hard to understand, this is the best book in the market.

Helped me to prepare for SCJP
I got 90% on the test. I used this book and the K&R SCJP book as well. This book helps you to prepare for the test and only the test...nothing more and nothing less.

The CD is a joke!
The book is very good but get this--THE CD ONLY WORKS WITH WINDOWS!!!

Ummm Java is write once/run anywhere?!?!? And the CD only works with Windows?

Now if that isn't the ultimate irony I don't know what is...what, they couldn't write the CD content in, oh I don't know, JAVA?!?!?!

Fails Selt Test answers
Purchased this book in order to prepare for the SCJP exam. I found that the replies on the self test were not enough and found myself keep trying to workout the solution from the main material and some times could not.
Bit more description on the answers would have earned it a 5-start but without only a 3-start and unfortunately the need to purchase another book with better explanations on the self-test questions
... Read more

Product Description
This book will help you prepare for and pass the Sun Certified Programmer for the Java Platform SE 6 (CX-310-065) Exam. It is written for any experienced programmer (with or without previous knowledge of Java) interested in mastering the Java programming language and passing the SCJP 1.6 Exam.

A Programmer’s Guide to Java™ SCJP Certification, Third Edition, provides detailed coverage of all exam topics and objectives, readily runnable code examples, programming exercises, extensive review questions, and a new mock exam. In addition, as a comprehensive primer to the Java programming language, this book is an invaluable reference tool.

This new edition has been thoroughly updated to focus on the latest version of the exam (CX-310-065). In particular, it contains in-depth explanations of the language features. Their usage is illustrated by way of code scenarios, as required by the exam. The companion Web site (www.ii.uib.no/~khalid/pgjc3e/) contains a version of the SCJP 1.6 Exam Simulator developed by the authors. The site also contains the complete source code for all the book’s examples, as well as solutions to the programming exercises.

What you will find in this book:

• Extensive coverage of all the objectives defined for the Sun Certified Programmer for the Java Platform, Standard Edition 6 (CX-310-065) Exam
• An easy-to-follow structure with chapters organized according to the exam objectives, as laid out by Sun Microsystems
• Summaries that clearly state and differentiate the exam objectives and the supplementary objectives to be covered in each chapter
• A list of Sun’s objectives for the SCJP 1.6 Exam and a guide to taking the exam
• A complete mock exam with new questions (not repeats of review questions)
• Numerous exam-relevant review questions to test your understanding of each major topic, with annotated answers
• Programming exercises and solutions at the end of each chapter
• Copious code examples illustrating concepts, where the code has been compiled and thoroughly tested on multiple platforms
• Program output demonstrating expected results from running the examples
• Extensive use of UML (Unified Modeling Language) for illustration purposes
• An introduction to basic terminology and concepts in object-oriented programming
• Advice on how to avoid common pitfalls in mastering the language and taking the exam
• Platform- and tool-independent coverage
• Information about the SCJP 1.6 Upgrade (CX-310-066) Exam

Customer Reviews (211)

SCJP objectives + Java foundation
This book teaches you a complete explanation of Java and SCJP. I Also used the K&B book for the test and the main differences is that the K&B is 100% about the test and it expects you to know basic Java and OOP. On the other hand, K&R goes beyond the test; K&R expects you to know some programming but not necessarily OOP. This book will helps best for people with minimal Java experience.

I do not recomend
I would not recommend to use that book for the exam preparation. The text is organized in boring, hard to read and reader-unfriendly way. The code examples are misleading. A lot of irrelevant information Some review questions do not contain answers in the end of the book. After working for a month with that book I had to buy Kathy Sierra's book in order to get ready for the exam... Kathy Sierra's book is much more easier to read and the material is organized there much better.

I succeeded having this book as study compagnion
I bought this book, because i wanted to pass sun's examination (scjp)
Without having any prior Java knowledge, i based all my study exclusively
on this book for that purpose. I was reading it thoroughly and practiced, many hours per day for 9 weeks. After finishing it i took the mok exam at the end of the book, and i failed! I did one more review on my weak topics for 1 week and then
i took the official scjp test in a prometric center.
From what i heard, i was expecting the questions to be in a somehow easier
level than that of the book. Instead imho they were harder! Solutions wheren't as
apparent as i thought (simple put they do are tricky! no matter what they claim) Nor where the questions 72 but 60 (time three hours)
Nevertheless i passed the test with a 70% score (pass limit 58%).
So apparently this book managed to cover succesfully the needed topics,
allthough i would recommend studying for more time and from 2 books simultaleously.
I highly recommend this book.

Very good
Great preparation - very in depth and detailed. Only thing I would add is more excercises.

Not Recommended
I would not recommend this book. I set up a study group for the Software Engineers on our contract to prepare for the SCJP exam. We decided to use this book as our study guide. After chapter 3 we all agreed that we did not like this book and decided to switch to another. This book is written in a way that makes even simple concepts confusing. I found myself having to reread concepts that I already knew over and over again just to try and understand what the author was trying to present. In my opinion this book is horribly written. I would have given this book just 1 star, but I did like questions that the book provided. My group has switched to "SCJP Sun Certified Programmer for Java 6 Exam 310-065" and so far I have no complaints. ... Read more

Product Description
Get the book that shows you not only what to study, but how to study. The only classroom-based integrated study system for professional certification gives you complete coverage of all objectives for the Sun Certified Programmer for Java 5 exam, hundreds of practice exam questions, and hands-on exercises. The CD-ROM features full practice exam software plus an adaptive test engine. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (291)

GREAT book
It's a fantastic book if you want to pass the SCJP exam, and by the way obtain a solid Java knowledge.
It goes straight to business, and it has fun moments as well, so the learning doesn't get too hard.
I highly recommend it!

The perfect book for SCJP
I'll make it quick: it's very simple, you want the SCJP? Buy this book and study, make some annotations and read it again! When you're finished do a lot of mock exams and when you're doing well in the mocks, you're ready for the real test. You'll love the way they explain all the topics.

I did it, it worked! Great book!
I got SCJP6 with 88%, using this book alone.

Thanks a lot Kathy and Bert.

Poor Service
im not receive the book(now 50 days passed), because of poor service. so i dont know about the product.

excellent java book
This SCJP book is very good for preparing the exam, as well as a learning material. I studied the book, and successfully passed the exam. It also helped me to gap knowledge and be a better coder.

The best book for Sun Certification and understanding Java
I failed Java certification 3 times using 3 other books. I simply didn't want to let go. I got this book and passed the exam, and I have to say, this book helped me understand the nuances of Java. I actually became confident in Java after reading this book. Highly recommend this. The writing style is simple and easy to understand. ... Read more

Product Description
Sun's foundation-level Sun Certified Java Programmer (SCJP) for Standard Edition 6 is a must-have for any Java programmer, and is a prerequisite for Sun’s specialty certifications. This resource is essential preparation for the SCJP and focuses heavily on the skill set that Sun expects its SCJPs to have, with numerous examples, exercises, and real-world scenarios to give readers the tools needed to use what they learn. The material covers declarations, initialization, and scoping; flow control; API contents; concurrency; object-oriented concepts; collections/generics; and fundamentals. The interactive CD-ROM features chapter review questions, two bonus exams, a series of flashcards that can be used on PCs or handheld devices, and an e-book.

Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

Customer Reviews (3)

Perfect place to start
I loved reading this book. I thought all the objectives were explained very well, and in a way that I could understand. I have no regrets at all purchasing this book.

Helpful overall
I just wanted to agree with the previous review.I used this book as a secondary book in my SCJP studies.I used the K+B book first and mainly used this book for its quizzes and test exams.I also agree with the previous review that the content of the book is a little on the brief side if you are starting from scratch.Also, the book covers several areas not on the exam (bit shifting, others).If you are looking for a good secondary source, I would recommend this book.Between the Bert and Sierra book and this one, you have a very large pool of questions to study from.

This Java SCJP SE6 Study Guide makes a nice companion guide.
This is a nice book that covers all the basics for the SCJP Java SE6 exam.Raposa has lots of example code and hundreds of practice questions to help you prepare for the exam.However, his text reads something like the Cliff Notes version of Java.He covers all the topics, but he does it rather quickly.If you already have a firm grasp of Java, and you are just looking for a tune up, then this relatively short study guide is a good choice.It also makes a nice "second pass" for one of the other more popular study guides.That's the reason I bought it.I'd already finished Kathy Sierra's book, and I wanted a 2nd perceptive.Raposa's book worked great in that role.Bottom line is if you're going to buy just one SE6 Study Guide, don't buy this one.However, if you want a 2nd Study Guide, then this is a nice choice.

After reading the last paragraph, you might be wondering why I rated this book only three stars.I give the text of the book four stars for all the excellent examples and sample test questions.However, I subtracted an extra star for two problems that have nothing to do with the text itself.The first issue is the poor quality paper the book is printed on.It this was some fantasy novel, it wouldn't matter.But being a textbook which readers will probably want to highlight passages from, the paper is so thin that the highlighter bleeds right through the page.The second issue is something called the Sybex Test Engine.As I've previously stated, one of the best features of this book is all the sample questions.Sybex, the publisher, put them all on a CD to practice with, which is really a nice idea.However, their test engine displays only a few lines of code at a time, making the reader scroll up and down through the question.This makes the questions unnecessarily difficult.
... Read more

Product Description
Aimed at helping Java developers, Servlet/JSP developers, and J2EE developers pass the Sun Certified Web Component Developer Exam (SCWCD 310-081), this study guide covers all aspects of the Servlet and JSP technology that Sun has determined necessary. This new edition adds aspects of servlet/JSP development, such as the Expression language, and updated materials of servlets with a particular focus on using filters to make request processing more efficient. Covering the reliance on the JSP Standard Template Library (JSTL) and its core, this guide allows JSP developers will be able to simplify their development process and remove Java-based scriptlets and expressions from their code. All applications in this book are designed to run on Apache's latest development server, Tomcat 5.0, and instructions on how to install this new edition and execute servlets and JSPs are included. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Good even for starters...
This book has lot of examples in it which makes it easy for starters..

I'm glad I didn't write this book...
This book is HORRIBLE. And this has nothing to do with taste or style or whatever... This is more of a fact than an opinion, as the errata list illustrates.

Apart from the numerous typos and errors (Search on `scwcd errata' on http://www.manning-sandbox.com/ - Literally every page has a typo or error), there are other reasons why I wouldn't recommend anyone buying this book. I'm even in great doubt if I'll ever buy a book from Manning (fortunately I didn't buy this one; it's my company's).

The web site (http://www.manning.com/deshmukh2/) claims that the book was completely updated and newly revised to be Servlet 2.4 / JSP 2.0 compliant. If a revised book contains 100+ (often serious and obvious) errors, please define `revised', Manning... Also the process of `upgrading' to Servlet 2.4 / JSP 2.0 has completely failed (old deployment descriptor DTDs and TLD DTDs are used, but there are many more examples).

The examples in the book are confusing because they do not merely illustrate what was explained in the text. Often they make assumptions that are based on facts that were nowhere mentioned in the text, or they illustrate a set of rules that can only be found in the Servlet / JSP specifications, but not in the book (especially in the chapter on EL (Expression Language)).

The only positive thing about this book (ehmmm... no, not about this book, but about trying to read this book) is that every so many minutes you're either completely confused, or you completely loose your confidence in the book, so that you're forced to read the official Servlet/JSP specification - which is of course the most reliable document you can use to prepare for the exam.

I passed the exam, but I only did because I spent more time reading the JSP specs than this book.

Great book - Help me pass with flying colours
Concise and emphasize what is require for the exam.

Good basic reference book
Its a good basic reference book but not sufficient for the certification exam.
It lacks deep in EL, The Servlet Container Model, Secure Web Applications objetives, it do not describe the initialization process for filters, listeners and servlets. The exam contains detailed question for this concepts.

His authors forget include the Thread Safe servlets objetive. Theweb.xml example is not updated for all elements for the latest specification.

Don't buy if you want only one study guide.

Do not buy this book
Having bought both O'Reilly's SCWCD exam study guide and this one(SCWCD study kit 2nd. ed) I can tell you this: There is not a single reason to buy this one!!

Think about this:

a) Deployment descriptors were not updated to reflect the new XML Schema document definition instead of Servlet 2.3's DTD reference. Although this is not crucial for successful web application deployment, it makes me think Manning didn't invest enough time/resources to release this 2nd. edition

b) As of the 9 chapters I have read, the authors do no more than describe (in a quite arid manner) Servlet API classes and methods, leaving out the rationale behind the API design and proper usage.

c) At the end of chapter 9, namely in the "Summary" section, you can read a reference to the following chapter dealing with the "development of thread-safe servlets". It is not possible as the following chapter is about JSPs and no threading issues are treated in chapter 10. This makes me think they did not revise nor update the whole of the book, as the back cover states.

d) Do you really need any more comments?

Go straight ahead and get O'Reilly's!!! ... Read more

Product Description
Here is a revised and enhanced edition of the most revered Java certification guide, with in-depth coverage of the latest versions of the Java Programmer and Developer exams. Written by the people who actually created the exams for Sun, this insider's guide will prepare you to take these two hot exams with confidence. Sybex Study Guides are packed with exceptional study tools--hundreds of challenging review questions and electronic flashcards that help reinforce key topics, and real-world scenarios that offer perspectives and insights from seasoned professionals. The CD includes an advanced testing engine with hundreds of sample exam questions and the entire book in PDF. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

An OK book, but certainly not the best
This is my second review, and again, it's a java certification book. This was the book I studied from for my certification exam, and thanks to God, I did pretty well.

The book is well constructed, with a lot of info, and a lot of great exercises at the end of each chapter, plus a mock exam, and four sample exams on the accompanying CD. Unfortunately, the book is full of typos, and there are several mistakes with the exam and the review questions, which is quiet a shame. Those mistakes turn this book from a great book, to a "just quiet satisfactory" book. Some of the mistakes are clearly due to lack of revision of the changes done to this edition, so conflicts show up in a couple of places.

An example to what I mean is that starting from Java 5.0, the return type of the overriding method could be a child of the return type of the overridden method, and it's stated clearly in the middle of the chapter, but in the summary at the of the chapter, it's mentioned that the return type of the overriding method must be exactly the same as the overridden method, and can't even be a subclass of it (which is true for pre-5.0). This is clearly something that was in previous editions of the book, and wasn't changed where it was supposed to be. Several mistakes like this occur in the book.

The book is worth it's price, but only if you are going to be careful while studying from it, and check other sources, whether they are other books, or freely available resources on the internet. If you are going to study from one book, and one book only, and will not rely on any other resources, then this is not the book for you. The book is not a bad choice, but there are several other better study guides in the market, like Katherine's Sierra's and Bert Bate's SCJP SCJP Sun Certified Programmer for Java 5 Study Guide (Exam 310-055) (Certification Press Study Guides) from Osbourne. I checked it out, and it looks great.

I Passed the SCJP Exam Using this Book
This is a good book if you want to review and brush up on your knowledge for the SCJP 5.0 exam.With that being said, this is not the only material that you should use for the exam.The included CD has practice tests, but they are pretty weak.Many of the answers are incorrect and they are not even close to the difficulty of the actual exam.Do yourself a favor and buy the practice tests from Sun.Read the book, understand the topics, take the chapter tests on the CD and practice using Sun's practice tests.This is a painful exam and should not be taken lightly.

Dont Depend completely on this book for SCJP exam
This book gives some basic idea to prepare for exam . Do your own research on topics like Generics , Threads , Collections etc and do some sample questions from Sun site.
This book gave me 75% material for exam , but dont rely completly on this book to pass the exam.

Great Book
I highly recommend this book whether you're going for the certification or not.It's well laid out, and well written.I'd recommend it to anyone wanting general knowledge of all the Java concepts.Only complaint is that the directions for the password to access the PDF version of the manual was wrong.

I do not recommend this book at all.
The book does provide some high-level overview of Java 1.5 features, and that's where it stops.It doesn't provide anywhere near enough detail and application to be used as either a test preparation tool or as a language reference.

I regret purchasing this book and would not recommend it to anyone, even if it were free. ... Read more

Product Description

The Best Fully Integrated Study System Available

With hundreds of practice questions and hands-on exercises, Sun Certified Enterprise Architect for Java EE Study Guide covers what you need to know--and shows you how to prepare--for this challenging exam.

• 100% complete coverage of all official objectives for exam 310-051
• Inside the Exam sections in every chapter highlight key exam topics covered
• Simulated exam questions match the format, tone, topics, and difficulty of the real exam

Covers all the exam topics, including:

Basic Principles of Enterprise Architectures * Object-Oriented Design Using UML  * Applicability of JEE Technology * Design Patterns * Legacy Connectivity * EJB and Container Models * Messaging * Internationalization and Localization * Security

CD-ROM includes:

• Complete MasterExam practice testing engine, featuring: One full practice exam: Detailed answers with explanations: Score Report performance assessment tool
• Electronic book for studying on the go
• With free online registration: Bonus downloadable MasterExam practice test

Customer Reviews (41)

Don't be fooled
This book claims "100% coverage" in large font on the cover. Certainly, you shouldn't take that as "read this book and you're done".

This book absolutely does not cover everything that's in the test. It lacks information on Java Server Faces, on Java Messaging Service (it has an entire chapter on JMS, but it lacks specifics that will be on the exam), on Web Services support in JEE, and so on. For those topics that it does cover, this book doesn't explain at introductory level.

That means that this book is no good starter's guide to get introduced to all the relevant themes, nor is it good at providing you with all the details that you need on the topics covered. It gives you an idea of those topics covered by the exam, which is helpful to decide which other books you must read. And nothing more.

Great Guide to Certification
it's a great book, but it's only a Guide and SCEA is a BIG Thing

It is not a Head First but it is very good
First of all sorry for my english, i'm brazilian.
I bought this book after the pain of reading the Study Guide from Sun Microsystems, so it was really good. There are some mistakes that would confuse some inexperienced developers, but the level of skill required for the certification would make the own reader fix it. Good reading, good coverage of subjects, the exercises are not so good but they do their work. A very good benefit i found was cd wich comes with the book, it help me to read it at work on time between tasks.

Excellent J2EE Review For Advanced Developers
I hesitated to buy this book after reading other people's reviews, but I finally got it and thought it was quite impressive.The newest version covers up to J2EE 1.4.There is a simple code example for each pattern that clarifies the meaning.There is an excellent chapter dedicated to Java Connector Architecture 1.5.I've been reading this book at work as I wait for my slow computer to deploy applications to WebSphere, and it seems highly relevant.You should definitely read other books to become an architect, as I have done.I've basically read the other top-selling architecture books before this one.You should also read specific books on security and internationalization.I didn't see many bugs other than a few misworded practice questions.It's definitely worth the time and money.

Very good
This book is amazing, and cover not only everything necessary for the SCEA, but more. Most of this "more" stuff, will not be usefull directly in your test but will help you very much understanding the necessary concepts.

Again, the book is very good, but since it has so much information, it's easy to loose yourself among this sea of words and stories.

I recommend go for other SCEA recommended books like the GoF Design Patterns, Sun Press By Mark Cade,Core J2EE patterns second edition before this one. Once you have a good knowledge to make the test, wrap it all up with this book. It will give you a perfect review of everything and call your attention about small things that no other literature will give to you. ... Read more

Product Description
Sun Microsystems (the creator of Java) has two JavaCertification Exams--one for programmers and one for developers. ThisStudy Guide is the ultimate authority for both of the SunCertification Tests!The lead author of Sybex's The Complete Java 2Certification Study Guide actually developed the exams for Sun. Notonly was Roberts the key player in the concept, strategy, andimplementation of the test guidelines, he also developed thequestions. The Study Guide is organized according to the examobjectives defined by Sun. Every single objective is covered,reinforced with sample questions and annotated answers. The book has astamp of approval from the Sun Education Team and includes a CD withan exclusive Java exam test engine.Amazon.com Review
Sun Java certification is no picnic, so a thorough study guideis essential. Look no further than The Complete Java 2Certification Study Guide for formal, structured preparation. Thisbulky title offers comprehensive coverage of the objectives you mustmaster to pass both the Programmer's Exam and the more demandingDeveloper's Exam.

Written by a trio of Sun Java course instructors,this book uses a straightforward bottom-up approach, starting withcore syntax of Java and moving into progressively more graphical andsophisticated aspects of development. The familiar textbook stylemakes the title very suitable for self-paced study, even if you're notshooting for certification.

Each chapter includes a test, and theanswers are explained. The authors use code snippets that are notoverwhelming in length to keep their readers focused on the concept athand. A large portion of the rear of the book is devoted to a Java 2API reference, and the CD-ROM features a test limit to help you getpsyched for the big exam. If you've got the time and dedication tomaster the material, this fine guide is all you need to get Sun'sstamp of approval as a developer. --Stephen W. Plain

Topics covered: Java language fundamentals, objects andclasses, event management, components, graphical user interfaces,database integration, thread management, and Remote Method Invocation(RMI). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (236)

Mistakes, Mistakes, and more Mistakes
I find it hard to believe that a study guide this error ridden was ever released given the gross errors my study group has found. We feel a lack of confidence in the material presented in this text and in the authors in particular. We have to verify everything presented in this text and believe nothing to be true without doing so. This is not a good way to study for a certification exam. We need a trusted and reliable reference, not a work of fiction.

We are not at all pleased with the material covered. Nor are we pleased with the mock exams which we all agree are too easy.

In all I would suggest that you not purchase this book and wait instead for the next release of Kathy Sierra & Bert Bates book.

Sample exams on CD are buggy and wrong
The exams on the accompanying CD are crap.
The engine is buggy (sometime you cannot see the whole text) and answers are wrong. E.g.
Q: "Which access modifier will allow access only within the class and package?"
A: "friendly"

Maybe friendly, but definitely wrong.

This was all I needed!
I studied this book carefully twice through and passed the exam easily.It may not be perfect, but it was all I needed.

Just right for the Programmer's Exam...

I used this book as my primary study guide for the Programmer Exam and it definitely helped me passing with high score.

This book is just right for this exam and covers all the objectives very well. I would certainly recommend anybody who is planning to prepare for the exam to read this book. Even experienced Java Developers can gain much of the knowledge of Java Language Fundamentals by reading this book.

However, based on my experience with the exam questions, I believe, this book is somewhat light on topics like Garbage Collection and Collections. If you aim to pass with high scores, you need to put more stress on these two topics and hence need to supplement this book with additional resources/tutorials freely available on the Internet. Otherwise, this is just right for the exam.

Too many errors for a 4th Edition
Obviously no one made a CURSORY proof-reading of this edition, or they would have seen dozens of double-quotes in the examples appear as some odd character I have never seen before. Once I figured it out I could decode what was meant, but it was a distracting nuisance. Obviously no one made a DETAILED proof-reading of this edition, or they would have seen us taught the size in bits of a double as 16 instead of 64. Obviously no one made a PROGRAMMING proof-reading of this edition, or they would have seen 65 listed as the byte-code of a lower-case 'a' in one of the exam samples, which made me choose "none of the above". Because of the errors which I DID see, I had little confidence in anything else that seemed questionable.

The chapter on Collections (which was probably added in this edition as it is new in 1.4 I believe) was not detailed enough, and didn't satisfactorily answer the chapter's own review questions.

The sample exams were not anything like the real one, which I failed. I kissed that $150 goodbye. ... Read more

Product Description

How many different ways can a great technical book stand out from the pack? That s the question you ll be able to answer in spades, once you ve gone through Cameron McKenzie s, SCJA Certification Study Guide.

Everyone one that puts their hands on the SCJA Certification Guide from www.scja.com comments on two things right away: 1) how entertaining the book is, and 2) how easy it is to read. I couldn t believe it! I read through the first three chapters in one sitting, and those three chapters made me want to read three more! Those are the types of comments we are flooded with when people finally get their hands on their SCJA Certification Guide.

And there are very good reasons as to why this Java book is so readable, and so enjoyable, not the least of which is the fact that the entire book was written, from start to finish, by one, and only one,author. The one-author-book is a rarity in the technical world these days, but its significance can t be understated. From start to finish, the author makes the objective of this book clear to get the reader certified, fast. With one, single, focused, author penning the pages, this book reads like a single, clear and contiguous thought. The fragmentation seen in so many books written by multiple authors is nowhere to be seen in this logical and free-flowing certification guide.

But not only is the book entertaining and easy to read, but it approaches Java, and the whole issue of approaching Java certification, from an entirely new perspective. Most people penning a book on Java would start the book by discussing syntax and code. But Cameron McKenzie refuses to fall into that old trap, instead, turning the SCJA Exam objectives on their head, by starting off with an in depth discussion the big picture issues, getting the reader excited about Java, and enthusiastic about learning how the language works. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (40)

its acceptable but not great
This book is fine, readable, and since there isnt much competition, its good to prepare for the exam.

However, I cant believe the author is a Java/programming expert.At some point he says that it is easier to parse strings by kicking off an external Perl program.And he frequently discusses StringBuffers, Vectors, etc which good Java programmers in this decade would not champion.Also, as some others have said, his language is not precise and the editing/proofreading is really bad.

I dont really think it is 1 star, I think it is worth purchasing (maybe 2 or 3 stars), but the average score is too high.:)

Chris

Good Book, But Not For The Test
I am just learning Java, but am also very technical in other areas. I liked the informal nature of the book, and feel like I learned a lot of Java fundamentals. However, I had to be careful, because the informal style lead to a number of areas where I could have assumed something that is incorrect.

As other people have mentioned, there are many errors in the books. However, after years of reading technical books, I am used to this, and the errors here were inline with others I have seen elsewhere.

Last, and certainly not least, I'm not sure if the test changed, but neither of Cameron's books reflected the actual content of the test very well.

Enjoy reading the book and pass the exam successfully...
If you want to pass the exam and have fun at the same time get this book.I finished the book in two days!!(its like reading your favorite novel)
It is specific to the objectives of the exam with simple and easy to grasp language and examples, it covers the Java technologies in first five chapters and then the oops and core java later(first thing I liked about the book), the shape example to define abstract class and used the same modified one for explaining interfaces was the best.
By and large an outstanding book. Highly recommended

This helped me pass the SCJA exam...Now to focus on SCJP!!!
I wrote a review for the Question book by the same author, SCJA Sun Certified Java Associate Exam Questions Guide by Cameron McKenzie Passing Exam CX-310-019so for more detail about why I wrote the SCJA exam, and what I thought about it, check my review there.

As for this book, it totally delivered to me what I needed to know to pass the exam. I had a bit of programming knowledge, but very little OOA and OOD knowledge. I also came from a C background, and my knowledge of Java related technologies, such as JSPs and J2EE, was nil. This book did the best job at helping you understand the big picture of Java, along with explaining the intricacies of OOA and OOD with Java. Actually, this had probalby the best overview of object oriented analysis and design that I've ever read. I highly recommend it, even if you're not taking the exam.

I might improve the Java syntax section. The book doesn't go overly in depth into Java coding, although neither does the exam, so I guess it makes sense.

Otherwise, this was a great book about Java, J2EE and OOA&D. These books were all I used to get certified, and if you want to pass as well, I'm pretty sure they're all you'll need too.

Good luck! It's a tough exam!

The BEST and an UNIQUE study guide for SCJA certification--------It's an EXCELLENTbook!!!!
Iam new to java. I studied this book and became from zero to SCJA certified and it's more than enough to become certified in SCJA even with zero experience in Java. It's so informative and exam oriented book which made the exam easy. Author Cameron explained the concepts, exam objectives in a very simple, interesting manner such that we can grasp and remember the concepts easily even with little knowledge in Java. The great thing about this book is even complex J2EE objectives were framed in a simple manner so that a beginner can able to understand and get good scores. All question models for the exam were covered in the book. With the experience of this exam I would like to suggest that, This the best book to buy for SCJA exam and newcomers of Java should write this SCJA exam to get overview of complete java like what is java? What are the different technologies present in java? Where we use these java technologies? and basics of java.
It's the unique exam guide I ever suggest.
My Best wishes for all those who are going to take SCJA exam!!!
... Read more

Product Description
Java continues to grow in popularity and web programming skills on the J2EE platform are in high demand. If you already have the Java Certified Programmer or Developer certifications and are looking for a new challenge, prepare yourself for the Sun Certified Web Component Developer for J2EE Platform exam (310-080) with this updated edition of the Java 2 Web Developer Certification Study Guide. Organized for optimal learning and retention, this book provides in-depth coverage of all exam objectives along with practical insights drawn from real-world experience. You'll also find all the great features of the market-leading Sybex Study Guides--Exam Essentials sections to reinforce key concepts, real-world scenario sidebars with practical programming assignments, and bonus practice exams and flashcard questions on the companion CD. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (45)

Useful book,buttoo many errors
As of now (second edition, hardcover), the book is in a pretty bad shape. Numerous typographical and logical errors make it a very annoying occupation to read it and, especially, to use it to study for the Exam. Questions and answers of the review sections and mock-up exams are often poorly worded and sometimes flat-out wrong.

Despite of its serious drawbacks, the book can be used productively (it helped me considerably to pass the Exam) since, in my view, it gives the reader an indication of the depth and breadth to which the exam will probe his/her knowledge. However, to benefit from the book in this way, the reader needs to be already familiar with the subject.

errors and misprints
This is a pretty bad book with huge amount of errors and misprints. It's only good to get an impression of the scope of the exam.

A great book
This is the only book I studied before sitting and passing the exam. As usual the Sybex authors were pretty clear and concise, but I do recommend purchasing some sample exam software to help focus your study.

Horrible structure, wrong concepts, completely useless
DO NOT buy this book if you intend to write the certification exam. Before teaching you anything it smacks you with a 65 questions 'assessment test' that is as hard as the real exam. That test is supposed to help you identify your weak spots but no where in the questions or answers it tells you where in the book you can read to improve. Delivery of concepts is confusing. Some answers of the practice questions don't even match!

Too many misleading errors to be worthwhile
I agree with most of the previous reviewers of this book: there are simply too many hair-pullingly obvious errors and misleading aspects of this book to make it worth the money.

Don't think that you're going to use just this book to pass the exam. You'll need to use other resources in order to pass the test. Case in point: You *will* need to know about the Front Controller design pattern for the exam--which is convienently not even mentioned in the book!! ... Read more

Product Description
This certification is for Sun Certified Programmers for Java 2 Platform who are using servlet and JavaServer Pages (JSP) APIs to develop Web applications using the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE). The certification consists of one exam and requires Sun Certified Programmer for Java 2 Platform status. Readers preparing for this exam find the Training Guide series to be the most successful self-study tool in the market. This book is their one-stop shop because of its teaching methodology, the accompanying ExamGear testing software, and superior Web site support at www.quepublishing.com/certification. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Don't Use This Book As The Only Study Source For SCWCD
If you use this book as the only study source, you will be in trouble.The book omits topic Section 7 - Designing and Developing Thread-Safe Servlets.Rely on other certification books - like SCWCD Exam Study Kit or Professional SCWCD Certification. Use this book as a supplement

Don't bother
Sun's certification exams are challenging. They demand careful preparation and thorough study. And they call for careful self-assessment.

The book offers only a point-by-point exposition of Sun's own objectives for the exam. While this fidelity to the exam objectives is laudable, it presents very little material beyond regurgitation of the Servlet API, example code written by others and little material of practical use in developing web applications with servlets and JSP. Sun puts much thought into its exam objectives and they strive to make the exams more than mastery of API trivia. This book It seems that the author has little experience with servlets and JSP outside of writing the book and is unable to illuminate why Sun considers its exam objectives are important.

I mentioned the certification exams call for careful self-assessment. It easy to wear your Hiliter to a nub but practice exams are crucial testing your mastery and indicating areas of further study.

Unfortunately, the three practice exams included in the book haven't even had the passing glance of an editor. Questions call for two multiple choice answers and the answer key gives one or three. Fill in the blank questions are answered in the key as multiple choice. Other answers to questions are flat out wrong. Beyond these obvious errors, a sizeable fraction of the questions are confusingly worded.

And then there is the included CD. The book advertises it as containing a "powerful, full-feature test engine." What it neglects to mention is that the engine is a Windows application. Is it so much more difficult to develop a Java test engine that can be run on a variety of platforms? Isn't that the Java way? Or, failing that, mention somewhere in the book the system requirements for the CD?

Good, and yet crap...
Being an experienced web developer I found this book to be pitched at the right level to fill out the blanks in my knowledge. The author explains up front that the book is not a comprehensive work on servlets and JSPs, but covers the areas that are on the exam. He also states that you will have to refer back to the appropriate Sun specifications if you want to fill out your understanding - which I found at some points, I needed to do. With further reading lists provided at the end of each chapter this is not a spoon-feeding book - but it does point you in the right direction.

The material is well covered and some additional real world information is given.

The book's major let-down is the review questions. They are extremely poorly worded - to the point where you question whether the answers you got "right" are actually right. Questions that ask you to pick two answers may actually have one or three when you look them up in the answers section. This is such a tragic oversight that I had to question whether anyone even cast an eye over it in the editing process - a real embarassment for the publisher.

The book is not bad, though. Well covered and on the level. However, if you want to see how you are progressing you would do well to use one of the many free sample exams available on the web, because the review questions are so hopeless.

mediocre
I found the practice questions at the end of each chapter to be disappointing.Some were irrelevant to the test, many were confusingly or ambiguously worded and some of the answers given were flat-out wrong.

If you only want to use one book I recomment SCWCD Exam Study Kit: Java Web Component Developer Certification by Hanumant Deshmukh, Jignesh Malavia.

The most successful self-study tool in the market
This certification manual is for Sun Certified Programmers on a Java 2 Platform who are using servlet and JavaServer Pages (JSP) APIs to develop Web applications using the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE). The certification consists of one exam and requires Sun Certified Programmer for Java 2 Platform status. Readers preparing for this exam will find our Training Guide series to be the most successful self-study tool in the market. This instructional reference is consider as their "one-stop shop" because of its teaching methodology, the accompanying ExamGear testing software, and superior web-site support atUser Level: Intermediate, Approx. Page Count: 504 ... Read more

Product Description
The best fully integrated study system available for Exam CX-310-019

With hundreds of practice questions and hands-on exercises, SCJA Sun Certified Java Associate Study Guide covers what you need to know--and shows you how to prepare--for this challenging exam.

• 100% complete coverage of all objectives for SCJA Exam CX-310-019
• Exam Readiness checklist--you're ready for the exam when all objectives on the list are checked off
• Inside the Exam sections highlight key exam topics covered
• Two-Minute Drills for quick review
• Simulated exam questions match the format, tone, topics, and difficulty of the real exam

Covers all the exam topics, including:

Packaging, Compiling, and Interpreting Java Code * Java Statements * Java Operators and Strings * Classes and Variables * Variable Scope and Class Construction * Classes and their Relationships * Class Inheritance * Object-oriented Principles * Representing Object-oriented Concepts with UML * Platforms and Integration Technologies * Client-side Technologies * Server-side Technologies

CD-ROM includes:

• Complete MasterExam practice testing engine, featuring: One full practice exam; Detailed answers with explanations; Score Report performance assessment tool
• Electronic book for studying on the go
• Bonus downloadable MasterExam practice test with free online registration

Customer Reviews (6)

Passed the SCJA Exam with this book
I have over 8 years of experience programming on the Microsoft .Net platform in C# and wanted to learn Java so I could program Android phones. I decided to use this book as a tutorial because it emphasizes what Sun/Oracle considers important for new Java programmers. I wasn't disappointed in my choice and am surprised at some of the negative reviews.

It was very readable and provided a good introduction and overview of the various subject areas. The two-minute drills were very helpful as well as the excercises. I did experience some minor problems compiling the source code for a few of the excercises but they were easily resolved.

Using this book I passed the SCJA exam on the first try with a score of 92%.

If you plan to use this book to study for the SCJA exam, before you start studying, I would recommend going to the Mcgraw-Hill website and downloading the errata for the book (a good practice with any programming book).

SCJA review
I would have to agree with others regarding the example questions. Numerous times in the examples does it give a wrong answer, or the list of possible answers within the answer section does not match the actual question it asks. While this is very annoying, it did force me to look into / better understand what the question was asking (which I'm sure is not done on purpose).

I give this book 4 stars because the content it does cover it does well. The 2 minute drills have been very helpful for memorizing key concepts.

As far as the comments regarding the writing style... It was written very "technical" vs. the "Head First Java" books, but that is what I was looking for when I bought this book.

I have passed the exam using this book
On December 2009 I have passed the SCJA (84%) using this book.
I think this book worths 4 stars because it contains some minor mistakes, but I put 5 just to close its rating to reality. So, this can be your first book for learning Java, and you can use this book to pass the SCJA exam. Good Luck!

Very Poorly Written, Horribly Edited, Misses Important Objectives
I waited 3 years for this book. It was delayed, delayed, delayed. And now I have it, I wonder what they did for 3 years. The writing is horrible, there are mistakes everywhere, half the sample questions are wrong, and it doesn't even cover the exam objectives.

There are way better books out there. Avoid this one.

Armed with this book, prepare to fail
There are so many bad things about this book that it's hard to even look past them and attempt to find any good qualities.
(1) This book is very poorly written and at times it seems as if it was written by a first year college student.
(2) For those who don't know, the SCJA is extremely easy. The objectives of the SCJA are very basic in nature and, for the most part, only require a very high-level understanding of most items. Yet, as simple as the exam is, this book leaves out a lot. If you are new to the world of Java programming and related items such as UML, then this book will set you up for failure as it leaves a lot to be desired for what is actually on the exam.
(3) I do not know who performed the technical quality control for this book but the exercises and practice exams are ridiculous. Many of the programming exercises have very obvious errors. Many of the exam questions are WRONG. Many people use practice exams to do a quick study of key points before a certification. What good does this do if many of the practice exam questions provided with the book are WRONG?

If you want to pass this exam, do not buy this book. The SCJA is too easy to fail because of a bad purchase. If you already bought this bought this book and have some experience with Java and object-oriented principles then Google SCJA Tips along with UML overviews and you'll be fine.If you have no Java experience and you bought this book, go back to the bookstore.
... Read more

Product Description
Ultimate study guide for Sun Java 2 programmer certification Exam 310-025.CD-ROM included.Amazon.com Review
Anyone preparing for Sun's certification exam 310-025 will find Sun Certified Programmer for Java 2 Study Guide of use. It provides a fast-paced tour of essential Java features and do-it-yourself sample test questions that will improve your chances for success on the exam.

This fact-based approach highlights material that will be on the test. This means that it pays special attention to certain topics (for example, public-, protected-, and private-access rules), even though you may not normally need to think at this level of detail. Besides the basics, the text explains the details of class design and string processing particularly well. Exception handling and garbage collection in Java is also discussed, as well as class design as it pertains to the certification test. The book includes plenty of tricks and tips for what's covered on the test, along with what to watch out for in certain areas.

A longer chapter on AWT for building basic user interfaces in Java rounds out this text. Every section provides challenging sample questions (usually about 20 for each chapter), which let you test your knowledge. An appendix contains more than 100 pages of answers and explanations for these self-test questions. (The companion CD-ROM features a computer-based test, similar in format to the actual certification exam.) If you have some Java experience, this book will quickly help ready you for official Java certification. Sun Certified Programmer for Java 2 Study Guide definitely delivers the goods. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered:

Test-preparation guide to the Sun Certified Programmer for Java 2 exam 310-025 The format of the certification test Java language basics Data types, arrays, and strings Declarations and access control Operators Equality testing Flow control Exception handling (try, catch, and finally blocks) Checked and unchecked exceptions Java garbage collection

Mark-sweep algorithms Encapsulation and class design in Java Overloading and overriding methods Inner classes Threads and synchronization techniques Math, String, and StringBuffer classes Java collections The AWT user interface classes Event handling (events, sources, and listeners) Sample test questions and answers

... Read more

Customer Reviews (68)

Worked for me!
I started with the first Stanek edition which had too many errors and weak treatment of some important subjects.I found this book at a Java conference.I found it to be well organized, well written and learned a lot from it.There were a few errors and some an annoying inconsistency in the discussion of threads but nothing of any significant consequence -- I passed the exam easily on the first try. One of the things I like most was that the more challenging self test questions were more difficult than those I had encountered on the exam.Most of the questions in the self tests were very close to what I saw in the exam.The part I like least was the CD.It had most of the same questions as the book.After the first two chapters I gave up the CD and went back plain old pencil and paper.The reason I gave it four stars is that the book isn't perfect and I didn't really benefit from the CD.

I look it very interesting, but i don't see anything
I not yet see this book, because i haven't read it

Maybe the next edition will be usable?
This book seems to have been rushed into production; it desperately needs a revised second printing.As it stands, however, there are just too many errors and misstatements for it to be taken seriously.Also, the topics are somewhat out of line with the questions on the exam.

Finally, a tough blow for people who are studying hard for the Sun Certified Java Programmer exam:in nearly every one of the practice tests at the ends of the book's chapters, one or more of the book's suggested answers to their own test questions are simply wrong, wrong, wrong.If this book's practice exams give you high marks, you probably will not do very well on the actual exam.

If I hadn't switched over to the Sybex book, I probably would have failed the exam, but I passed it the first time.However, it cost me a week or so of finding and unlearning all the misinformation that I had already absorbed.So I recommend avoiding that.

Good book tarnished by errors
What I like about the book:
- Writing style, easy to follow, good examples
- End of chapter summaries (a few diagrams would help)
- End of chapter exam with answers (good measure of progress)
- Simulated exam (although I would like more that than just one test)

What I did not like about the book
- Errors in text of book, - way to many of them
- Errors in end of chapter exams, - again way to many
- Errors in simulated exam (had the least errors once the update was applied)

If the publisher could fix the errors, this would be a great book. Web site has an update for the simulated exam (still had errors), but I could not find anything for the text or end of chapter exams. Accuracy is a must when you are buying a book to study to pass a java certification exam.

Update: took the Sun Certified Programmer for Java 2 Platform 1.4 Examination on Oct 3rd, 2002 and passed.

It does the job, well.
I had ONE goal - to pass the certification exam. I had ONE book to study from - this book. And it did the job. It covered all the objectives for the exam. The questions at the end of chapters are a good shakedown to highlight your weaknesses.

If you can notice each and every little typo, that's a compliment to the book, it has prepared you well enough to notice the right from wrong. All you need to pass this exam is: this book + mock exams (beyond what's available on the CD). ... Read more

Product Description

You already know how crucial certification is within the Java community. SCJD Exam with J2SE 5, Second Edition is a valuable guide to prepare for the exam.

This book has been updated for the new Java version, J2SE 5.0, and works its way through a project with requirements and structure similar to the project you'll encounter in the exam. Upon reading this book, you'll become intimately familiar with key concepts, challenges, and pitfalls that the exam is likely to test you on.

Customer Reviews (52)

Very valuable
I really like this book and found it to be a great learning tool.It serves as an excellent companion while you work on the exam and also as a reference book afterwards on best practices for GUI, design patterns, networking, threading and locking.Through the book, the authors develop a sample application that has similar issues as the ones the exam deals with. The book is a good read and the authors have a good style.Since the Sun Certification process (scjp, scjd) is self taught, I find books like this valuable because they act as your instructor to help teach the best practices in different scenarios.

My only feedback to the authors is to add more diagrams of how the classes work together in different scenarios.Not something I'd take a star away from because I think they already do a good job.

-Pat
SCJD

Full coverage, excellent
It does exactly what it proposes. It's a not a good java reference book, its intended to give you insights on how to easily achieve the scjd exam objectives, and I think it does a great job at that. I havent downloaded my exam yet (waiting for sun to send me the access code), but I think this book is really helpful.

Thanks!
Great service! Purchased the book as a gift.Gift receiver asked for this book and is working through it.

A Must Read For All Java Programmers
Even if you decide not to seek Java Developer Certification you owe it to yourself to read this one. You won't find any better coverage of threads and RMI anywhere.

Focused and beneficial SCJD certification aid
The SCJD assignments are somewhat vague and misleading.While part of the exercise is to work through imperfect requirements (as those you will find in the real world), a good set of 'must' requirements needs to be met.The Sun Certified Java Developer Exam with J2SE 5 book fills in the gaps for common questions a SCJD candidate may have on areas such as packaging, logging and Javadoc.More importantly, the authors walk through a sample project detailing key areas of importance to your SCJD assignment; including RMI, Sockets, serialization, Swing, threads, design patterns, value/transfer objects and more.

If you are going to do the SCJD assignment, you should purchase this book.You will find yourself developing the assignment the 'right' way and you will also find yourself working many of the author's suggestions into your workplace.

The code for the sample project is provided online for reference purposes. ... Read more

Product Description
--Test your knowledge with 400 sample-test questions in a challenging adaptive format which provides full explanations and references for every question.--Covers the "Sun Certified Programmer for the Java 2 Platform" exam.--Perfect companion to the best-selling Study Guide and Exam Notes books from Sybex. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Efficient to the objective
I started studing java programming just a few weeks before reading this book. I think the book could be more compact, providing the information in a straight way. However, I achieved a pass in the exam, as the book covered all the subjects. The questions this book provided were very similar to the real ones, and the fact that the book were also in pdf helped me studyingwithout the book! If you buy the book, and answer the questions, you will probably be succesful in the exam.

RUBBISH!! - Will only frustrate you and muddle your mind !!
If ratings could be negative I would give it a -Infinity!

The GUI is slow, difficult to navigate and badly designed.
I don't know if it was must my particular copy but the "explanations" function didn't work either. Therefore you can't check why you got something right or wrong.

The overall bad quality makes you very unconfident about the accuracy of the answers which is bad when you are trying to clarify in your mind vital concepts!.

I'ts a total rip-off. It seems to confirm what other people had told me regarding Sybex's shoddy quality control, and overall inadequate products.

Like another reviewer I suggest purchusing the JQplus product. It's good and about 1/4 of the price....

Buy this and be as sorry as this book
This is horrible software.I am in the second chapter and I am just fusterated with the book.The material doesn't even perpare you for their own questions, how can it attempt to prepare you for Sun's.You think your doing alright untill you take the test at the end of the chapter and the questions coverthings that are nowhere to be found in the material you just read.Then it has the nerve to go back and reread that material like its going to help.Don't wast your time with this second rate [junk].

Its ok
To whomsoever its concern,

The book is a nice attempt and is useful for scjp aspirants. But still it needs lot of improvements in terms of content etc.

For someone like me, who has some experience in java i believe Mock Tests are highly valuable than anything else.

....

Hope this will help someone making the decision.

Regards
robin

This will keep happening untill we are able to return CD-s
This CD contains just about any content error you can imagine - wrong answers being set as good, correct answers being set as bad, explanations contradicting answers, answers obviously inverted by "engine", inconsistency among variations of essentially the same question. For example once class is requred to actually implement public clone() the other time it is allowed to "pass by" just with stating "implements Cloneable" and not implemting public clone. Or question saying "doesn;t compile because of instanceOf" while code with the question contains normal "instanceof". Looks like one thing wiht this was attempt to artificially increase number of questions by letting software do some run-time changes which then went out of sync.

If you know Java really well you might practice catching their errors, otherwise it is plain dangerous for novice and useles for practice since efter several frustrations one ends up having to second guess every single question and answer. For a test preparation user has to be able to trust correctness of tsts and answers completely in order to have any use of them.

It was way too easy for whoever was in charge of this to missuse the "no right to return CD" and produce essentially useless CD like this, safe in knowledge that there is nothing buyer can do about it. If this was a book they would see a lot of returns and someone would start asking questions - like did someone spend 5 minutes on content checking and product testing :-) Funny thought - if they went selling this on eBay there would be a lot of returns and refunds for a merchandise not as advertized, so can it be that one is the least protected when purchasing something like this in a bookstore? ... Read more

Product Description
Succeed on the JAVA 2 examThoroughly revised to cover every aspect of Java 2, the Java 2 All-In-One Certification Exam Guide packs the essentials that will put you on the fast track to certification. Four new chapters cover the new material onthe 2.0 exam, making this book the most up-to-date study guide available anywhere. Author Barry Boone, a Sun-certified programmer and developer, and co-author Bill Stanek, show you how to:*Gain proficiency with the Java language*Design and implement class hierarchies*Work with essential classes, methods, and Java Applets*Write Internet client/server programs*Access data using Java as a front endThe accompanying CD-ROM contains all the source code from the book, as well as Sun's Java Developer Kit and a sample course from Digital Think. It also contains JCertify exam simulator and training tool, with hundreds of exam questions and detailed answers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (56)

Horrible!
I could not believe all the errors in this book.Arithmetic errors, coding errors, answers that don't match the given question numbers, using the wrong standard library methods with arguments which cannot be used for them -- the incompetence of the proofreading is inexcusable for any published Java book, let alone one claiming to be an exam guide.As some other reviwers have noted, I give one star because that is the minimum allowed.

tossed it in the recycling bin
the typeset used for the example did not render correctly when published, there were typos enough to make me think the work was never proofed.all that is not ideal, but once several incorrect assertions regarding language constructs and behavior were spotted, into the recycler it went.this book helped my efforts at certification in a very round-about way.if the reader was less aware of the mistakes, following this book could have a negative impact on their exam.

Make up your own mind...
Its pretty obvious a group of people decided to bash this book and that did a real number on book sales I bet to the benefit of all the other Java certification books no doubt. I've used several editions of this book. The 3rd edition published in 2002 is what I am using right now to study for the exams. The book is excellent and well written.

An excellent guide for Java Exam with suprising result.
If you would like to know what the poorest exam guide could be, this one is an excellent sample. You could found all errors in your imagination and even more errors out of you imagination.
An definite guide for Java Exam candidate who would like to failed.

poor examples
This book [is bad]. Even the basics they have got it wrong. Like Arithmetic operators postfix and prefix notation. This is not only misleading but also did confus me. I did not expect this from a professional publisher ... Read more

Product Description
Mike Meyers, the industry expert on professional certification, brings you this concise, affordable, and portable study tool for Java certification exam 310-025. With an intensive focus on only what you need to know to pass the test plus practice exam software on CD, this Certification Passport is your ticket to success on exam day. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Excellent Java book to clear concept, but not for newbies.
This is a very good Java book for not only the certification exam but also the one which helps you to get clear concept. I have experience in programming Java and now decide to go certified. I do feel this book help me quite a lot in the exam preparation. It serves as a very good review for the Java knowledges I have. The price of the book is also very nice. I can say that you get far more than you paid. One thing I would like to mention is this book probably a little bit tough for the newbies. If you are new to Java and do not have much OOP experience, I will not recommand you this one. Although most of comments here are negative, I still want to give this book a high rating.

Run Away -- Run Away
This book is only worth purchasing as a doorstop

There are numerous errors in the test areas.The result is that you can not determine whether or not you are indeed prepared.It will waste your time to use these materials; to speak much less of your money!

This book is terrible
I have been working with Java for 4 years now and decided to finally get certified.

I decided to go against my instinct and not read amazon's reviews before purchasing the book.It was a terrible decision.

There are so many errors in the testing sections of this book, that I will most likely have to pay more money and get another book just to straighten my mind out.Examples of this include things where the author suggests you choose 3 out 5 possible answers for a multiple choice question, and then only lists 2 correct answers in the solutions.Now granted this inhumane struggle is a great way to learn the langauge, but isn't that what I paid the author to do in the first place?

Do not waste your time on this or other passport books.

OK at best
What's Good:
1. Gives you good overview of what to expected on the exam.
2. Questions at the end of each chapter and their answers (not all answers are clear but overall it's acceptable).
3. Quick summary at the end of each chapter.

What's Bad:
1. Tons of errors. Just look at the book's webpage. The lack of professionalism on the publisher's part is quite evident. Let me put it this way, if I had know it had this much errors prior to purchasing this book, I wouldn't have purchased it.

2. Very weak in area's where explanation IS necessary. It really annoys the hell out of you after a while. This is definitely not a book for beginners, but even if you are an expert some statements in the book will make you say "huh, what the heck are they talking about?"
3. The accompanying CD is worthless! Just go to "JavaRanch.com/maha" for mock exams.

What's Ugly:
1. The book's index is just horrible! You can hardly find what you are looking for even though something pertaining to it is discussed in the book.
2. No glossary. What's an exam book without a glossary? The book make's it nearly impossible to do last minute check on things you don't fully comprehend. If the back of the book index was good the lack of a glossary would have been acceptable but it isn't.

I would recommend that you go to your local library and check it out rather than purchase it. You definitely shouldn't rely on this book alone to prepare you for the exam.

Poor quality control
The contents of the book are OK if you already know Java and want to quickly brush up. There is too much assumed to just pick this book up as your first Java certification book. My major complaint is that there are numerous errors in the question and answers and on the CD's practice exam which is the main reason for buying. It is very frustrating to look at a list of answers and feel that none of them are correct or to look for a third when only two are - you find yourself doubting your knowledge and then, doubting the rest of the book's contents. ... Read more

Product Description
All-in-One is all you need! This authoritative reference offers complete coverage of all material on the Java 2 certification exams. You'll find exam objectives at the beginning of each chapter, helpful exam tips, end-of-chapter practice questions, and photographs and illustrations. The bonus CD-ROM contains practice tests, hundreds of questions, and video clips. This comprehensive guide not only helps you pass this challenging certification exam, but will also serve as an invaluable on-the-job reference. Amazon.com Review
If you have familiarity with Java or an object-oriented program language like C++, the All-in-One Java 2 Exam Guide does a competent (if not exceptional) job of explaining the individual components, features, and functions of Java--but if you're weak on concepts, you'll definitely need another book to back this up.

The organization of the book is fairly simple, starting off with the absolute basics of programming, moving on to slightly more advanced topics like switch and case statements, then walking the reader through most of Java's functions, arguments, interfaces, and exception handling on a case-by-case basis. The book's explanations are fairly minimal, explaining each function quickly with relevant snippets of code, which demonstrate either a function or how to do some commonly requested task (these are sparsely documented, however).

Programmers will nod sagely, appreciating the no-nonsense way the book rips through a large amount of data in short order, and if you know what you're doing you can very quickly get a lot of information. The code segments are clear and concise, and generally are useful for illuminating the proper way to use a function or structure something--and there is an awful lot of hands-on code to play around with here. Unfortunately, if there's a snippet of code that you don't quite understand, you may be left up the creek--or have to tinker with the code yourself to see how it works. And the code isn't linked together to form a single program at the end of each chapter, as in some books that try to explain programming. If you're used to programming with a goal in mind rather than just programming for the sake of experimentation, you could have some troubles here.

People fuzzy on the more conceptual portions of Java may be left behind, too, as the book's strong point is going through what Java does, not why it does it. If you're weak on why inheritance is such a valuable thing to use... well, then you probably shouldn't be coding in Java anyway. But if you don't quite understand the concept of thread synchronization and why a programmer would be concerned with it, the Java 2 Exam Guide goes over it in a single page. The writing, when it comes to explaining concepts, is clunky--it will tell you what Java does to handle threading, but not really explain why.

Another slight problem with the book is its lack of test focus. It goes through Java in a fair amount of detail, but doesn't really explain what's likely to be on the test and what isn't. As stated, there's a lot of information packed into these pages, and it comes very quickly. It would be nice to know what are the questions that almost invariably arise on the exam, common mistakes that programmers have, etc. This is more of a reference book than a tutorial, so slimming down the reader's choices would have been helpful.

Each chapter contains exercises and a set of questions. The exercises, again, are good in the hands of a programmer who knows what they're doing--generally, a goal is given in an exercise ("Write a program that writes your phone number to a file as an int with a seven-digit number"), with a sample program given at the end of the chapter. But again, the exercise's "answer" is just a code segment, so hopefully you'll either understand how it works or be able to fool with it and deconstruct why it did. The questions are multiple choice and are fairly tough, but not backbreaking.

In short, this is a book that is slanted far more toward reference than to test-taking or tutorial. As such, it's useful for those who already understand Java to a large extent and are looking to lock down their knowledge before they actually spend the money on the test, and experienced programmers will appreciate the brevity involved. Those with less savvy, however, may wish to find another book to go with. Recommended for the experienced. --William Steinmetz ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Excellent book for Java 1.4 exams
The Java 1.4 Exam 310-035 is the actual one I used this book to study for. One thing I didn't mention is that the version of this book I had only covered the 1.2 exam. Thanks for my friend's recommendation I skipped the java.io and java.awt discussions when studying for the Java 1.4 exam. The Java 1.4 exam also covers wrappers, collections and assertions. Wrapper classes are covered in this book on pages 301 to 305 so this gave me what I needed to know based on the 310-035 exam objectives. In this book pages 314 to 318 cover collections and gave me a good start on what I needed to know for the exam. I also used a few java web sites to help me study collections, wrappers and assertions just to be safe, so this book with the additional help from one of these sites should get you a good score. I'm waiting for mine now but had no trouble on the exam whatsoever.

Java 2 All-in-One 3rd Edition
I got this from a friend who had just used it to pass the Programmer Exam. He recommended it highly and I do too. Java 2 All-in-One covers both the programmer and the developer exams. It provides an excellent chapter by chapter breakdown of what you need to know to pass the exams, providing a solid mix of detail, examples and review.

No coverage of real stuff
This book only covers what a novice programmer already know. It doesn't really cover the more difficult topics tested in the exam. I'd highly recommend that you consider the "Complete Java 2 Certification Study Guide" which explains the difficult topics in a clear, concise and detailed manner.

Content No Sufficient
I'm going to make short here. The topic covered in this book is not detail enough. A lot of important detail in inner class, AWT, Layout manager, Thread, contructor override and overload is not cover in depth detail. The concept in the book is straight and simple. It may be good to understand. However to pass your examination, you need more than what is covered in the topic of this book. My suggestion is why spend so much money buying a book that doesn't give whatu need to pass your examination.
I would suggest you go for "The Complete Java 2 Certification Study Guide: Programmer's and Developers Exams (With CD-ROM) -- by Simon Roberts".

No a good book
I was disappointed in this book. It contained many errors and typos. This is not recommended for anyone who want to prepare thoroughly for the exam. I'm on my second study guide to prepare for the exam. One of the earlier reviewer was on the money about his review. I should have listened. ... Read more

Product Description
Get Java certified-and cash in on the Java career espress Set yourself apart from the growing crowd of Java programmers by becoming a Sun certified Java Programmer! Java Certification Exam Guide for Programmers and Developer, by Barry Boone, shows you how. This two-in-one certification prep kit helps you master every aspect of 100 pure Java coding-easily taking the place of popular prep courses costing $2,000 or more! Overflowing with sample exercises, applications, model questions and 2 full practice tests plus a practice programming assignment, it teaches you how to design and umplement class hierarchies... work with classes, methods and Java applets. . apply advanced object-oriented programming techniques. . write Internet client/server programs... access data using Java as a front end... and much more. It's the only Java certification guide with an affiliated online course from the pros at Digital Think. Reach for it and ace the programmer or developer certification test-and put your Java career in high gear!Amazon.com Review
In an attempt to professionalize the ranks of Java programmersand make sure Java is being used in the correct "100% PureJavaquot; way, Sun Microsystems has set up its Java certificationprogram. Java Certification Exam Guide for Programmers andDevelopers lets you prepare for the program's two exams--one forprogrammers and another for developers. The text highlights the (oftenselective) material these exams will likely cover, beginning with Javabasics, such as keywords and class declarations, and continuing withmore advanced topics, such as exceptions, threads, and user interfacedesign in both Java Developer's Kit (JDK) 1.0.2 and JDK 1.1programming. Chapters also test you with sample review questions andprovide answers. Where appropriate, the author includes material thatwill ostensibly not be covered on these exams.

The second sectionof the book focuses on the developer's exam, which tests yourknowledge of object-oriented design (OOD), as well as Java syntax andtrivia. The author clues you into some Java-specific ways (forexample, abstract classes and interfaces) to apply your knowledge ofclass design in a new language, but you'll need to have somebackground in design to understand them. An especially noteworthychapter covers the conventions of writing javadoc-style comments,which create "automatic" HTML-based help for Java classes.The book closes with two "official" sample tests from SunMicrosystems. Though this book won't be useful to the general Javaprogrammer, it can be a valuable resource to those seeking Sun'scredentials for Java development. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (54)

Exam Buster!
Read as many books as you like (and practice!) to grasp the concepts ofJava BUT to pass that exam...this() is the book for you. There are one ortwo typos, dont pull your hair out trying to compile them but the samplequestions are worth every cent/penny! Good Luck

General overview on 1.1 test and good sample questions
I used this book and was able to pass.This book covers almost every aspect you need to know in 1.1 test.However, in reality--that is to pass the test, you need to find more resources with good mock up exams.I foundabout 2 exact same questions and several similar questions in the exam fromthis book.

I passed the examthis morning!
I passed with 78%.

Be warned, I wouldn't have passed the exam with this book alone.

Take allthe mock exams you can find, for ex. the new 1.1 test.

Some questions on the test are difficult, andyou will need to know your stuff in depth

A must buy book for Java Certification
This is one of the best books that I ever found for java certification. I gave exam today and passed it on first attempt. Author has done great work in organizing language concepts. The practice tests at the end of the bookare excellent. Great book Barry !!!

A must-read for anyone taking the JDK 1.1 certification
I passed the programmer test on the first try, thanks to this book!My only sources of information where this book and the API documentation itself.

Start from zero Java knowledge, put in a few hours of study andpractice every day for two or three months, and do all the exercises andpractice tests in the book.Don't hurry.Be sure to completely understandthe concepts before moving to the next chapter.

Yes, there are a fewerrors in the book and in the practice exams.You must go to the author'shomepage to get the corrections.

The book deserves five-star rating,though I think it should have covered more thoroughly the IO classes.Theprogrammer test hit me with a few questions I was not prepared for.

Next,the developer test... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

It is definitely a good buy for Java 2 certification.
I have bought this book for my Java 2 certification exam and it has reallymade me happy. The Layout of the topics from the point of view of thecertification, is great. If it were not for the typos error I would havegiven 5 stars. As far as the contents goes it deserves a 5 star.The bookdo not include GridBagLayout which is very much a covered topic in theexam. Otherwise, the book is complete in all regards.

Cheers to theauthors for this great book.!!

poor explanations
I'll point out thatafter having completed 7 of the 13 chapters for the programmer's exam, theauthors are unable to explain critical concepts including inner classes,anonymous classes, and threads

Solid Technical Info
I bought and am using the Roberts, Heller & Ernest Java2 Certification Study Guide (a.k.a. R&H 1.2 book).I highly recommend it, both for general Java familiarization and advice, as well as the certification guide.BUY THIS BOOK.It's worth it. Roberts, et al present the material needed without any extraneous fluff, AND provide excellent, PRACTICAL suggestions on programming style, tips for robust code, even solid design suggestions, all through the book.This one is moving up on my "must have" list of solid technical works.As far as I know, it is the ONLY book that discusses the Sun Developer exams, and is singularly useful for that alone.I like this book.I have one regret.The last roughly 300 pages are a stripped-down regurgitation of the JDK documentation. I would have preferred that Sybex saved the trees, and pointed people at the more complete, more useful, "free" electronic version published by Sun.Thicker books do NOT mean "worth more" unless they are completely filled with useful material.By page count, 30% of the book is useless.That said, BUY THIS BOOK.It's worth it. Respectfully, Gre

Goodbook.
Material in this book is good enough to survivethe exam but test engine is no where near the Sun's certified exam. Test engine contains some of the questions from the exercises which i didn't feel good because it was easyanswering them. I recommend to take off 10% score from the score obtainedin the test engine.

I think that is excelent book
If you dont have knowledge of java, this book explain all that you need to learn Java 2. ... Read more